Sole or heel plate for boots and shoes



(No Mode-1.) v

J. M. DEXTER.

SOLE 0R HEEL PLATE EUR BOOTS AND SHOES. No. 300,854. Patented June 24, 1884.

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NITED STATES rErcE.

ATENT JOHN M. DEXTER, on ELMIEA, NEW Yoan.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 300,854, dated June 24, 1884.

t Application filed July 5, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN M. DEXTER, of the city of Elmira, county of Ghemung, and

State of New York, have invented certain Im! provements in Coverings for the VearingSurfaces of Shoes, of which the following isaspecification.

My invention is a covering for the wearingsurfaces of shoes, boots, and overshoes, constructed, as fully described hereinafter, so as to be readily applied, securely affixed, prevent the rapid and uneven wear of the shoe, and secure such a hold upon the pavement as to prevent slipping.

In the drawings, Figure l is a sectional elevation of a shoe illustrating my improvement. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view; Fig. 3, a perspective view illustrating` the construction of the heel and sole pieces; and Fig. 4 is a detached section of the plate enlarged. l The shoe-covering consists of a thin plate of metal, A, corresponding to the portion of the shoe to which it is to be applied, either flat, or with side flanges to embrace the sides of the sole or heel, anda covering of rubber or cement so applied as to adhere firmly to the lower, or to both the lower and upper, faces of the plate, and in some instances serving as a means ofattaching the plate immovably to the shoe. may be of wire-cloth.

Before applying the cement or covering sheet or coating, the surface of the plate should be roughened in any suitable manner, as by filing, stamping, eating with acids, or by using a plate formed of wire-cloth. If the cement is to be of rubber, a sheet of the latterrmay be pressed upon the roughened surface of the article already made, as described, or a rubber coating may be applied as a paint, and the plate may then beapplied to the outsoleor heel of the shoe, and retained in this position while the rubber is vulcanized, thereby securing a firm' and secure connection of the plate to the shoe by means of the vulcanized rubber. The plate so applied not only prevents the rapid 'wear of the shoe, but also tends to obviate that uneven wearing thereof, which is more destructive than any other wear that As the plate is thin, it

The plate is preferably perforated, or

adds but little to the weight of the shoe, and is also flexible, so that the shoe will spring as readily under the movements of the wearer as any ordinary shoe with a heavy leather sole.

The letter A indicates the plate, b the covering, and e theopening in the plate, andi flanges, shown as being upon the heel-piece7 but they may be upon the sole-piece when fiexibility in the latter is not required.

Although I have referred to a rubber covering, coating, or sheet, any other suitable covering may be employed-as, for instance, a sheet of thin fabric coated with rubber cem ent and vulcanized between the plate and the shoe.

It will be apparent. that the coated or covered plates may be manufactured as articles of sale, to be disposed of' to manufacturers of shoes, by whom they may be applied and secured.

The plates may be made by cutting each to its proper shape and then coating it, or by. first preparing sheets of wire-cloth,or perforated plate covered with rubber, &c., and cutting the required articles therefrom. This I do not here claim, as it may form the subject of a separate application for Letters Patent.

I am aware that shoes have been made with rubber soles and with plates embedded there in, and do not claim this, broadly, my invention being distinguished by the fact that the rubber-coated flexible plate is adapted to be applied to the outsoles or heels of completed shoes.

As an article of manufacture, a thin metal plate having its lower surface covered with rubber or its equivalent, conforming to the sole or heel of a boot or shoe, and provided with suitable means whereby it may be cemented thereto to form anover-sole having an outer elastic facing, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

.T NO. M. DEXTER.

fitnessesz N. I?. FossErT, W. L. SMITH. 

